“The pair continued extensive drug sales even after Paul Perkins told them people in southwest Virginia were overdosing on their pills.”
A 23-year-old California woman who aided her boyfriend in shipping thousands of fentanyl pills from California to southwest Virginia, the use of which led to the serious bodily injury of two individuals, received a sentence of nine years in federal prison. This Fentanyl case in CA highlights the severe consequences of drug trafficking across state lines.
Destiny Raeann Perez assisted her boyfriend and co-conspirator, Alexander Ortiz, with packaging fentanyl pills and other illicit drugs. According to court documents, the young adult has held legitimate employment for only one month. She helped organize pill orders and mail parcels from California to customers throughout the United States.
Destiny Raeann PerezPhoto by SWVRJA Abingdon
Most of the duo’s sales were conducted via various social media apps. Additionally, court documents indicate that Perez,
“Created numerous CashApp accounts in the names of friends and family members so she and Mr. Ortiz could receive payments from pill customers.”
Customers’ locations varied from southwest Virginia to West Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, New York, Maryland, Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, Wisconsin, and Oregon.
In February 2022, authorities found 6,100 fentanyl pills, $50,581 in cash, ten unregistered firearms, digital scales, packaging labels, a vacuum sealer, and a money counter at the residence of Perez and Ortiz in Los Banos, California. Despite the discovery, the duo continued their distribution, frequently changing locations and vehicles.
Recovered weaponsPhoto by United States District Court
A second search warrant executed in June 2022 revealed,
“A loaded pistol in Ms. Perez’s purse, transdermal fentanyl patches, approximately $9,257 in cash, two additional loaded firearms, a vacuum sealer, multiple other types of illegal controlled substances (thousands of alprazolam pills and Xanax bars, for example), and drug packaging and processing materials.”
Recovered weapons.Photo by United States District Court
Officials assert that Perez actively participated in the conspiracy. Furthermore, the fentanyl pills distributed by Perez are said to have been,
“Directly linked to two non-fatal fentanyl overdoses of minors in Wise County, Virginia, a fatal fentanyl overdose in Tennessee, and likely countless other unaccounted for fentanyl overdoses across the country.”
Additionally,
“One of the two overdose victims in Wise County, Virginia, spent multiple days on a ventilator and over a week in the pediatric intensive care unit as a result of pills distributed by Mr. Ortiz and Ms. Perez.”
